Improvement in machinery for bending sheet metal



UNITED STATES =L ATENT FFICE.

HENRY ROE, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4,157, dated September' 11, 18451.

To @ZZ whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. ROE, of Erie, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful improvements in machines for folding the edges of sheet metal' in making lock-joints in sheetiron and other sheet metal;` and -I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle or character thereof, and of the manner of making and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which make part of -this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of the entire machine; Fig. 2, a transverse section of the .same with a sheet of metal folded, and Fig. 3

the same with a sheet of metal just introduced preparatory to folding. The other sections will be referred to in their appropriate places.

The same letters are used in all the gures to indicate like parts.

The nature of my invention consists, first, in attaching what I term the folding-plate tha-t is to say, a plat'e which grips the edge of the sheet of metal, and on which the folding is effected by the folder-to a bed placed below it and hinged to the bed of the machine, so that the sheet of metal can be folded entirely over, instead of gripping the sheet bya squarejaw extending above and forming a stocki above the plane of the bed of the machine, as heretofore, which prevents the sheet from being folded entirely'over, and therefore requiring a secondary opera-tion to complete the folds; secondly, in supporting the said folding-bed to which the folding-plate is attached in the middle of its length by a joint-bolt, the head of which lies in a semicircular recess in the foldingbed and as near as practicable in a line with the axis of motion and securedin the bed ofthe machine; and, thirdly, in the employ ment of a slide-plate below the folding-bed and back of its journals provided with inclined planes on which projections from the back of the folding-bed rest, so that by the working ofthe slide-plate by a lever at the end of the machine the folding-plate can be made to rgrip and liberate the sheet of metal. I

In the accompanying drawings, E is the bed of the machine, (represented separately at Fig. 6,) properly formed at the ends with boxes d d for the reception of the journals of the working parts. The face s is made smooth and on a plane a little below the center of the journals of the foldingbcd and folder, to be presently described, and the surface back of this is depressed to receive the folding-bed C, (represented separately in section 5 with the foldin gplate removed,) which is hung on journals t t, and to it the folding-plate B is secured by screw-bolts, with the ledge projecting sufficiently beyond it to admit of the widest fold, and below the folding-plate there are several sliding gages, g g g g g, governed by screws to force them in and out, so that by properly regulating these gages the machine can be set to make any desired width of fold. That part of the folding-plate which projects beyond thc edge of the folding-bed lies over the face s of the bed E,which has recesses m m m m m in it Vto receive the ends of the gages g when proj ected out.

To prevent the folding plate and bed 4from springing in the middle, there is a screw-bolt, h,with a half-round head embedded in the folding-bed just under the folding-plate, and as near on a line with the axis of vibration of the bed as possible, which passes through the bed of the machine, and is there secured with a nut, so that all the strain is sustained by the two journals and this bolt. The folding-bed is cut out on each side of. the bolt to give it free play. The folding-plate is made to grip the edge of t-he sheet ot' metal P by the operation of the slide-plate D, (the form of whichis fully representedin section 7,) which slides in grooves in the projections k of the bed E, the upper surface being provided with inclined planes n n n', on which projections 1J i 't' of the folding-bed rest, so that when the sliding plate is moved to the right by the lever aturning on the fulcrum-pin b and connected with the slide at fthe back part of the folding-plate is elevated and the sheet of metal gripped between the forward part and the faces of the bed, and when the slide is moved to the left the sheet is liberated.

The folder A (represented separately in Fig. 4t) is made, in the usual manner, with journals at each end, which turn in appropriate boxes in the ends of the bed E, and so situated that the face u is below the line of their axes (when in the position represented in the drawings) a distance equal to the thickness of the sheet of metal intended to be operated on. It is provided with a handle, c, to work it with.

e [man When the machine is in the position represented in Fig. 3, the sheet of'metal is introduced between the bed 1G and folding-plate B until the edge Comes in eontaet with the gages g. The sliding4 plate D is then drawn to the right by means of the lever @which causes the folding-plate to grip the sheet. The folder A is then, by the handle C, turned over with the sheet of metal until it strikes the upper faee of the folding-plate, as in Fig. 2, which represents the edge vof the sheet as being entirely folded. The folder is then thrown back and the slide-plate moved baek to liberate the folded sheet of metal and leave' the machine prepared for another operation.

It Will be obvious that if the folding-plate were attached to anything extending aboye the plane of the sheet of'metal when pnt into the maehine preparatory to folding, the folder could `not be moved entirely over, and that as a Consequence the fold could not be coinpleted; but by this arrangement all the oonneetions are placed below this plane, and, therefore, the end desired is fully attained.

l do not claim as my invention simplygripping the sheet of metal between the faee of a stoel; and the bed, as this has heretofore been done, but

'Vhat I do claim' as my invention, and desire to seenre by Letters Patent, is-

l. Making the folding-plate to proj eet from and on top of the stoel; to which it is attached, i

Witnesses:

Cris. M. KELLER, ARTHUR L. MolNrrRn. 

